


Sometimes, You Just Fall in Love With a Hylian and That's Okay

by blackfin



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Declarations Of Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hylian Sidon, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Romance, Zora Link, hylian!sidon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 19:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12991095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackfin/pseuds/blackfin
Summary: Sometimes, when you fall in love, it's not a huge, spectacular thing which culminates into a confession accompanied by swelling music and pouring rain, but instead, a quiet, calm, everyday, mundane realization that you are in love, that you have been for a long time and that the other person loves you, so maybe it's about time you do something about it





	Sometimes, You Just Fall in Love With a Hylian and That's Okay

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for berrieblubunnie and breath-of-the-ship over on tumblr!  
> Cross posted on my tumblr, s-aizo  
> Currently accepting commissions, check my tumblr for more details  
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated! Thank you!

He could smell the Hylian long before he rounded the corner. Resting the shaft of the spear on his shoulder, Link stared down at the crystal clear water, eyes darting about, looking for any semblance of movement, and waited for that telltale flash of red to appear in the periphery of his vision. 

It was a strange aroma, unlike any of the other Hylians who had passed through the Domain. He supposed that if he were to describe to someone using those exact same words, they would think he disliked it. On the contrary, it was pleasant almost to the point of being infuriating. Just another perfect thing about a Hylian that was already damn near perfect. Not to mention, Link had found himself becoming stupidly fond of that scent. There had been more times than he would ever admit where he had caught himself getting fuzzy headed with just one whiff. 

He already had enough trouble with the Hylian’s wooing attempts. Last thing he needed was for the man to catch onto the fact that Link got all flutterly over something like that. Not when he was already confused enough already about the whole thing. 

Sighing, trying his best to ignore the steadily strengthening scent of one Hylian but spectacularly failing at doing so, Link distantly wondered why the man was so fascinated with him in the first place. Wasn’t like there was anything special about him. He was just like any other Zora. Well, except for one distinction but it wasn’t like his height made him stand out all that much. Sure, as much as he hated to admit it, he was short. Shorter than most...or really all Zora tend to be - that probably wasn’t a selling point, though. Which wasn’t to imply there weren’t selling points to be found with him. Not to brag but he was strong (strongest in the Zora, if he was just being honest), fast and had a pretty good personality, or least, as he’d been told. Still, that didn’t really make him stand out amongst everyone else. 

Whole thing especially didn’t make sense considering that the Hylian was precisely that, a Hylian. Squishy, liable to die before he even hits his first hundredth year, and over three hundred years younger than Link! Not to mention, the Hylian was attractive to the point that he could probably walk into the nearest Hylian village, declare he was looking for a mate, and be covered in women within a blink of an eye. His courageous, altruistic, loyal, and energetic personality also earned him a lot of points, as well. Course, that pushy, aggressive attitude of his knocked the count down a bit. 

After all, he was only nearly perfect. His enthusiasm was admirable, even charming but the pushiness? Well...Link paused for a moment, lifting his gaze to the slate grey of the sheer rock face on the other side of the river. When he had first met Sidon, his aggressive, gung-ho nature had been a little off-putting but to say he found it annoying or that he thought it lessened the Hylian’s character, well, he’d just be lying to himself. He did consider an imperfection - something that showed the Hylian wasn’t as grown up and mature as he thought himself to be. However, if he were being honest (and right now, he was trying to be), there was something endearing about that imperfection. And, if he continued on with the appreciation train, he’d might say that he appreciated the attitude. The bombastic, forward going nature of Sidon was one he didn’t stumble across often, and one he couldn’t truthfully say that he disliked. In reality, it was one he found easy to get along with. Sure, it was a little much at times but he was certain his own tendency to be the quiet, stoic warrior wore thin on some at times. 

Link inwardly groaned, realizing his thoughts were, once again, becoming immersed with that Hylian. It was becoming a little alarming just how often he found his mind wandering to him. Usually, the thoughts were of the variety of merely thinking of him - little mundane things about his work, personality and, sometimes, appearance. Normally, he didn’t find Hylians to be that significant in the looks department - Sidon was the exception. Tall, broad and possessing a vibrancy that made him almost impossible to look away from. However, lately, the thoughts had started becoming more...involved. Just yesterday, he had caught himself wondering what the Hylian’s hair felt like. Standing on the edge of one of the many pathways in the Domain, he had just been staring into nothing, dazedly questioning whether or not his hair would be smooth, or would it be silky? It looked silky - a wave of vibrant red, redder than anything he had ever seen (though he did have some distant memory of seeing...something, he couldn’t recall what, being that exact same color), that flowed in a waterfall around his handsome face, curling delicately across his broad shoulders- 

Link furiously shook his head, sending his fin flying. Nope! Nope, nope, nope! He was not going down that trail of thought again. Just thinking about him thinking about it was enough to make his face hot enough that he could cook the fish he would catch if he could ever get his attention back. Sighing, he tossed his spear aside, knowing full well that he was too riled up now, and plopped down onto his bottom. Pulling in a deep breath, he held it for several moments, focusing on the increased beat of his heart then slowly let it out. 

This...well, he honestly didn’t know what to think about all this. He wasn’t a stupid Zora, far from it. Maybe a little foolhardy at times, with a habit of rushing forward without really thinking about things but it wasn’t like he couldn’t recognize what was going on. Sidon very obviously wanted a relationship with him. There hadn’t been a passing day that he had been here that he hadn’t delivered to Link some kind of proposal of romance. Near every breath out of his mouth was being put towards a praise or a completely unsubtle flirt. It had gotten to the point that it was now normal. He was certain that if he weren’t to receive at least one flirtation or longing glance out of the corner of those intensely golden eyes, he would probably feel like something was wrong. 

That wasn’t an issue. That was something he had been prepared to just shrug his shoulders at, wait for the Hylian to get over the phase of “being in love with a Zora” and move on. No, that hadn’t been an issue. What was now the problem was that he had realized a while ago that Sidon was serious, and he was beginning to reciprocate. He was falling in love. And the even bigger problem was, he couldn’t find a reason for that to be an issue! Hylians and Zora didn’t engage in intimate, romantic relationships often but it was in no way uncommon, looked down upon or unpermitted. Sometimes, you just fall in love with a Hylian and that’s okay. 

So why was he so bothered by it? Setting his cheeks in the palms of his hands, he blew out a hard breath. That wasn’t a simple question to answer, simply because for every reason he found to justify being bothered by it, he could immediately find another reason not to be. 

Reason to be: Sidon was much younger than him. Reason not to be: Sidon was an adult who could make the conscious decision to go after someone older than him he so chose to do so, and in terms of mental age, they really weren’t that far apart. The age difference also didn’t really bother him. He and Sidon could easily talk to one another, there really wasn’t a big gap that was apparent between them. 

Reason to be: Sidon wouldn’t live as long as him. Reason not to be: seemed like it would be better to spend a good chunk of both their lives being in a loving relationship then to dismiss it because of something neither one of them could avoid. Sure, he might find someone else down the line who made him feel the same way Sidon did, and Sidon might find the same but was he really going to run away from a relationship just because of differing lifespans? 

Reason to be: they were different species. Reason not to be: so? It wasn’t like there was anything impending them from enjoying a normal relationship. 

Reason to be...nope, there was nothing else than that. He tossed about inside his mind for few moments, and found absolutely zilch. All of his reasons for being bothered by a relationship with the Hylian, firmly resolved. He didn’t have a reason to be bothered by it, which made him think the only reason he had felt bothered was because this was something new to him. Not so much the part of someone being in love with him - he had dealt with a similar situation before - but rather, him falling in love with someone else. That was new to him, so it made sense that the newness of the situation had unnerved him. 

That only left him with one train of thought: was a relationship with Sidon something he wanted. Yep, his mind almost immediately answered, much to his surprise. He didn’t even have to think about it that hard. Once he shoved aside the thorn like doubts, the answer rang out clearly inside his mind. Sidon was someone he enjoyed being with, he felt safe with, he could talk easily with - all the foundational things that made good, lasting relationships were right there. 

Still, he wasn’t satisfied. Setting his face into a hard expression of concentration, he fired off the hard hitting questions: did he love Sidon? Did he want to be with Sidon? Did he like spending time with Sidon? Was Sidon someone he could see himself spending a significant chunk of his life with? Was Sidon someone he could see himself going through both good and bad times with?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes - the responses came back just as quickly as he could think the questions. It wasn’t even hard to answer them. For a moment, he felt incredibly stupid. This sensation...this was a ‘they were right in front of my face the whole time’ kind of thing. Well, then...that settled it. Picking up his spear, he reared back and threw it as hard as he could into the water, hitting the brightly colored bass just inches from the shore directly in the head. Striding forward with purpose, he wondered why it had been so hard to realize all that until now. Sidon’s efforts hadn’t doubled or anything - he had been going full speed ahead since the day they met. Not a word of this had been spoken to anyone about their possible relationship, though he knew Zelda was a lot more aware of the whole thing than she let on, so it wasn’t like anyone had encouraged him to think one way or another. 

Maybe he had just needed the time to really think about it. The groundwork had already been there, waiting for him to glance it over, put the pieces together, and figure it out for himself. Retrieving the spear, he pulled the fish off the pointed edge. Oddly enough, he didn’t feel happy about the discovery. He felt the same as always, as though this realization wasn’t really that big of a deal. Somehow, that felt wrong. A moment like this, shouldn’t it be filled with grand swells of music as he jumped off his feet and declared to the world that he now knew who he loved? 

Frowning, he looked back up to the rock face and softly declared, “I’m pretty sure...I love him.”

‘Are you sure?’ He imagined the rock face asking back, ‘Are you certain that you aren’t just getting caught up in the moment because you know that he loves you?’

“It’s not that.” Link said back to the sheer cliff that couldn’t speak or hear him, “I know it’s not that. I’ve had people act like that towards me before, and I didn’t react like this.”

‘You should be certain before you do anything. It’s unfair to him to only be ‘pretty sure’ and not all the way sure.’

Leaning his head back, he began to distractedly stroke one of his fins. Was he only pretty sure? Or was he all the way sure about this? Could anyone decide that they one hundred percent certain that they loved someone else in such a short amount of time? Then again, it felt like this was something he had been thinking about in the back of his head for a long while, and only now, when he was alone, with nothing but the sounds of rushing water and the rock face as his company, could he really bring the situation to light. 

‘Maybe,’ he could hear the rock face saying in a slow, thoughtful voice, ‘you slowly fell in love with him, and just hadn’t realized it. Perhaps love for him has been there for a long time, never a far, foreign thing but something that has always been present in your heart. That’s why it doesn’t feel like a huge thing to realize it. Because it’s always been there.’

He couldn’t be too sure of that but...it felt right. Not that he would have time to think on it as he could hear footsteps quickly approaching. 

Turning around, he watched as the red haired Hylian came dashing into sight. A huge grin was splattered across his handsome face. Once he saw Link, he began to wave enthusiastically. Somehow, his expression managed to get even brighter when their gazes met. A flutter settled into the rhythmic pace of his heartbeat. Heat rose to his cheeks once more. Seeing him so excited and energetic brought a smile to his own lips and, for once, he didn’t try to push it away. Whatever the reason, he knew he wasn’t wrong in the conclusion he had come to. 

He loved him. There was no ‘pretty sure’ about it. He really did love him. 

Tossing the fish into the basket that was supposed to be filled to the brim by now, Link brushed his hands distractedly together as he waited for Sidon to reach him. His scent was much stronger now, nearly overwhelming Link. Resisting the urge to pull in a deep breath, to fill his lungs with that welcoming scent, he instead busied himself with straightening the decorative armor around his throat. 

Coming to a stop in front of him, Sidon bent over, gasping for breath, and smiled dazzlingly, “Hello there.”

“My answer is yes.” Link blurted out without thinking, then immediately turned away to busy himself with the one fish he had caught so that Sidon wouldn’t see the expression of intense embarrassment that instantly overwhelmed his face. 

“Yes to what?” Sidon asked, confused. 

Link stopped mid-step, then turned to look at Sidon over his shoulder, “What have you been asking for since the first day you came here?”

Squinting, Sidon stared at him for several moments, clearly not making the connection. More than a little frightened now that he had misunderstood the entire thing, Link began to race towards the panic line. Desperately searching around in his mind for some kind of reason other than accepting Sidon’s relationship offerings, Link was inches away from laughing it off and racing off to hide underneath the closest rock for the next five centuries when Sidon, suddenly, straightened up, his eyes going wide and yelped loudly, “Truly?!”

Startled, Link jumped back but was quickly pulled towards Sidon when the Hylian reached forward, grabbed hold of his hands and yanked him into a tight embrace. Smiling widely, he looked down at Link with golden eyes, shimmering with hope, and breathed, “Truly, Link? Will you become mine?”

“I-” Link lowered his head, cheeks burning, and murmured, “I already gave you my answer, didn’t I?”

Suddenly, his feet were off the ground. Jubilant laughter poured from Sidon’s smiling mouth as swung Link around a few times then abruptly pulled them close together so that he could pepper little kisses all along his face. Startled, a little peeved that he had been picked up so easily, and knowing that Sidon’s happiness was already beginning to infect him, Link found himself unable to do anything but smile widely. Soft giggles bubbled out of him as Sidon kissed every inch he could reach. His cheeks, chin, fins, and lips. Every time Sidon’s smooth, firm lips brushed against his own, a wave of tingly warmth rushed along the surface of his skin. Inside his chest, his heart pounded a distinct beat of excitement. It was probably a little bit of an understatement but each kiss felt amazing. Sidon’s skin against his own, Sidon’s scent filling the space around them, his breath gliding along his skin, his warmth - he almost felt furious with himself for keeping him from this for so long. 

Setting him down, Sidon pressed a warm, lingering kiss against his lips then pulled back with a shaky breath and a beaming smile, “Not that I’m complaining but what made you decide to say yes?”

Excellent question. He still was not certain, though. Reaching up to distractedly tug on one of his fins, Link gazed up at Sidon in silence for a few moments then lightly shrugged his shoulders and said the only thing that came to mind, “It was like realizing where you left something you had been looking for.”

That was probably the least romantic thing he could have possibly said. Grimacing slightly at his lack of tact, he was about to redact the statement and try again when Sidon brushed the backs of his fingers along his cheek. Leaning down, he stole another quick kiss, muscular arms squeezing him closer, then whispered, “So, I’ve been something you’ve been looking for?”

Link started slightly at the question. Leaning into his warmth, his mind fuzzy and utterly content, he wondered if that was the reason. Had he been waiting for someone like Sidon, or...had he been waiting specifically for Sidon? It was such a simple reason, an effortless question - one that, if it hadn’t been brought to his attention, he would have overlooked it. Snuggling against Sidon’s strong chest, breathing in his pleasant aroma, Link quickly decided that was a discussion he could have with himself later. Right now, he was content to reason that, despite some early misgivings, things had worked out for the best. 

“Do you love me, Link?” Sidon suddenly asked. 

“Yes.” Link replied, his voice muffled by the fabric of Sidon’s shift. “I do.”

He heard Sidon let out a sharp exhale of breath, followed by him being squeezed even more tightly, “There aren’t any words to describe how happy it makes me to hear that, Link!”

“Your turn.” Link mumbled, wrapping his arms around Sidon’s midsection. 

“My turn?”

Link just nodded, hoping he wouldn’t have to spell it out anymore. His endurance was quickly reaching its limits. Anymore than this, and he might just melt into a puddle of Zora goo. Sidon was quiet for a moment, then he chuckled, a low, raspy sound that came from the depth of his chest. Placing a kiss on the top of Link’s head, he said huskily, “I love you, Link. I love you so, so, so much.”

“Good.” Link replied, his voice a little unsteadily. Untangling himself from Sidon’s embrace, he stiffly walked over to the basket, picked it up along with his spear then glanced at Sidon over his shoulder, “D-do you want to come back to my room?”

To his delighted surprise, Sidon’s entire face blossomed with a brilliant shade of red. Golden eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he stiffly nodded, swallowed hard and rasped out, “Yes. Yes, I would. I really, really want to.”

Startled a little by just how cute Sidon looked right then, as well as his own boldness in offering such an invitation, Link could only nod in return. Tucking the basket underneath his arm, he held his spear tightly in the other hand and started off towards the Domain. Sidon fell easily into step beside him, taking Link’s unoccupied hand into his own, an expression on his face that Link could only describe as being blissful. Together, they walked in comfortable silence, both a little red in face when Sidon suddenly spoke up. 

“We’ve met before, you know.”

“Huh?” Link responded, unsure he had heard Sidon right. The warm fuzziness inside his head and chest had proven to be very distracting. At that moment, all he had really been able to focus on was the feeling of Sidon’s fingers intertwined within his own. 

“We’ve met before.” Sidon repeated, saying it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Before when?”

“Now.”

“We’ve known each other for a year now, though.”

“Before that.”

“I knew you before that.”

“You really don’t remember, do you?”

Link squinted his eyes, staring up at Sidon as though there was some kind of clue to be found. Nothing about his face was especially familiar. He was pretty sure that he would have remembered someone who was as attractive as Sidon. Still, there was the fact that the color of his hair was familiar to him. Far off in his mind, in a distant memory, he could remember the color being associated with something important to him. What it was, he just didn’t know. Other than that, there was nothing in his memory pointing to a instance that they had encountered one another before. 

He shook his head, “I’m sorry, I don’t.”

“That’s alright. It was a while ago, after all.”

Sidon fell silent, his expression neutral. Link continued to stare up at him, waiting for him to inform him just where and when they had met one another before. A couple awkward moments passed before Sidon noticed him staring. Turning, he favored Link with a mischievous grin and said, “I’m not going to tell you. You kept me waiting a really long time, you know. So, I think it’s only fair that you figure it all out yourself.”

“I don’t think that’s very fair at all.” Link replied with a frown. “How am I supposed to figure anything out if I don’t have anything to go off of?”

“You make a good point.” Sidon said after a thoughtful pause, “Alright, I’ll give you a hint: twenty four years ago, three little red sparrows came flying into your Domain, where they stayed for several months, nestled safely on yours and Zelda’s shoulders, before a terrible storm drove them away.”

Link stared up at him blankly for several moments, then tilted his head slightly and said flatly, “I’m guessing you and two others came to the Domain twenty four years ago, and that’s when we met?”

“That’s the overview of it, yes but there’s a lot more than that.”

Frowning, Link started to walk back towards the Domain, and tried to think of what Sidon could be talking about. While it wasn’t a tremendous time ago, there had been a lot going on during that moment in his existence. Three little red sparrows came to the Domain, both he and Zelda had interacted with them, and a bad storm drove them away. He guessed Sidon meant three red-haired Hylians, which probably was Sidon himself, parents or some type of relatives. Had there been a moment in time when three Hylians had been in the Domain? He honestly could not recall something like that. Hylians passed through the Domain all the time, but it was rare they stayed for more than a week, at the most. Staying several months, that meant they had to have been here for something. 

But that realization didn’t help at all! Three red-haired Hylians, one of whom had been Sidon, came to the Domain twenty four years ago, he had interacted with all three of them, and could not remember any of it. Now more than just a little frustrated, he looked up at Sidon to try to get some more answers out of him but was stopped when the Hylian abruptly tugged him close, swooping down to capture his lips with his own. As Sidon hungrily dominated his mouth, shoving his hot tongue inside with no caution given for the sharp teeth just centimeters away from it, all thoughts of the hint and the supposed time they had met before slipped from Link’s mind. Surrendering to his heat, his taste, his touch, Link hazily decided to think on it later. For now, he wanted all of his attention to be on the man he had, quite abruptly, realized he was madly, deeply in love with.


End file.
